According to a recently released study, "The Global Diffusion of Plant Biotechnology: International Adoption and Research in 2004,"1 Canada has researched more field crops than any other country.

Prepared by Ford Runge, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy, the report goes on to say that "Canada clearly has the R & D infrastructure in place to continue as a biotech leader, both through publicly funded institutions such as Agriculture Canada, Genome Canada and Plant Biotechnology Institute, as well as its leading research institutions such as the University of Guelph, University of Saskatchewan and Laval University."

Biotech agriculture is a high-stakes game with the annual commercial value pegged at almost $US50 billion, most of which comes from five countries: the United States ($27.5 billion), Argentina ($8.9 billion), China ($3.9 billion), Canada ($2 billion) and Brazil ($1.6 billion).

With 49 crops already approved for commercial use, Canada's prominent role in this emerging industry is partly due to its unique position as the only country to regulate on the basis of the traits expressed and not on the basis of the method used to introduce the traits.

Canadian farmers are already looking to the gains from the next generation of biotech seed products, which profile consumer benefits. Farm journals are reporting on soybean and canola products with improved oil profiles that will address trans fatty acid health concerns.